Noah Dewey may hit 97 miles per hour with a fastball, but that will probably top out the radar gun for the Springfield Drifters this summer.

“I don’t think we are going to run guys out that will blow the doors off people but we have a bunch of guys that are just going to pitch,” new coach Jeff Lyle said. “Guys that can get outs and want to be developed. We have some bulldogs and we went after guys with the mentality on the mound that they would attack and throw strikes. I’d rather lose by giving up 15 hits than seven walks.”

Springfield has 17 pitchers on the roster as it prepares to open the West Coast League season at Hamlin Sports Complex on May 30th against Walla Walla.

“We want to be a bit more pitcher-heavy so we don’t abuse any arms,” Lyle explained. “A guy may need to ramp up innings in the summer or slow down and all of that will come into play during the next month when I get calls from college coaches saying they don’t want a guy to throw many innings or other coaches call and say their guy didn’t throw many innings and needs some work.”

Ned Frutchey has pitched in nine games this spring for UC Davis, including six starts, while Michael Klein has eight saves in 15 appearances for Fresno City College.
“Ned might be maxed out on innings by the time he gets here and Michael has been dominant, so he could be a drafted kid we lose, so we have to keep our numbers high for those things,” Lyle said. “The problem you may run into is you want to make sure you have enough guys, but you also don’t want to have too many guys so they don’t get enough innings or development.”

Lyle brought longtime college and pro pitching coach Dean Stiles with him to the Drifters.

Stiles, a Eugene native who was pitching coach at Oregon under George Horton, has more than 40 years coaching experience including stints at Lane Community College, Florida International, St. Mary’s and San Jose State. He also worked with the Los Angeles Dodgers and Detroit Tigers organizations.

Stiles returns to the WCL after coaching the Bend Elks a few years back.

“I am excited for our pitchers to be around him,” said Lyle, who has known Stiles for more than two decades. “He’s been a winner at every level and developed pitchers at a high rate. I am excited for our guys to hear him speak every day about what it takes because they all want to play at the next level and that is where he thrived and developed pitchers.”

Springfield will have a handful of pitchers back from last year, including a few who played high school ball in the area.

Billy Dotson, a senior at Ottawa University in Arizona, led the Drifters with 59 1/3 innings pitched last year during 13 games, including nine starts. The Junction City grad tied for the team lead with four wins while compiling a 4.24 ERA.

Marist graduate Kaden Starr, who pitches at the University of Portland, started a team-high 10 games for the Drifters last summer while going 2-4 with 32 strikeouts in 45 1/3 innings.

Blake Stavros, a Willamette High grad playing at Bushnell, led the Drifters with 18 appearances last year while striking out 12 in 21 innings.

“Blake is having a good year filling up the strike zone,” Lyle said. “Dean and I have gone out to watch him and he has arm strength and attacks the zone.”

Sheldon grad Nolan Miller, a teammate of Starr’s at UP, will be a two-way player for Springfield after throwing two scoreless innings last summer.

“You will see Nolan in the outfield, at first base, and on the mound,” Lyle said. “He has not pitched at all at the University of Portland but they want him to, so he will be another left-handed arm for us.”

Two pitchers from Yakima Valley return including Diego Carrillo, who struck out nine in 12 innings during seven relief appearances last year for Springfield. Austin Dillon started three games and struck out six in 7 1/3 innings.

Thurston High School star Connor Molony, who has committed to play at Oregon next year, will join Springfield’s pitching staff this summer.

Kaden Harris of Lower Columbia College is the stepbrother of major league reliever Keynan Middleton, who played for Lyle at LCC.

“Kaden is leading the NWAAC in wins out of the bullpen,” Lyle noted.

Jakob Von Lubken pitches at Linn-Benton Community College along with Dewey. Matthew Tacheny is a sophomore at Linfield.

“Von Lubken is a starter for Linn-Benton so I see him possibly being able to come in and start for us,” Lyle said. “Tacheny is a right-handed pitcher with a funky arm slot who spins the ball well and we don’t have anything like that. Dewey can really run it up there.”

Sonny Pena is a teammate of Klein’s at Fresno City while Jackson Walker plays at Yakima Valley with Dillon and Carrillo.

Carl “Tre” LaGrone pitches at UNLV while Andrew Miller is at Cal State Fullerton.

“Miller is redshirting this year, so he’ll have plenty of innings available,” Lyle said.